What’s Happening in Northeast Florida

If you haven’t been to One Spark – the World’s Crowdfunding Festival in Downtown Jacksonville – you really need to go.

If you’ve already been, you probably have plans to go back.

The event, which runs through Sunday, April 13, connects ideas with funding – with creators from all over the world filling Downtown with projects in art, innovation, music, science and technology.

Admission is free, and there are food trucks. What’s not to love? For more information, visit One Spark online.

By now, we’re well into festival season. So while you’re Downtown also swing by Metropolitan Park for the Oyster Jam Music Festival – a two-day event on Saturday, April 12 and Sunday, April 13.

Oyster Jam is a huge, down-home oyster roast with more than 15 bands rocking the river. There will also be a select group of microbreweries providing refreshment. And shuckers will compete to see who can shuck 12 of the cleanest and most appetizing oysters in the fastest time.

The festival runs from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets are $10 for adults and children under 16 are free with accompanying adults.

Enjoy art? Visit the San Marco Art Festival, which happens on Saturday, April 12 and Sunday, April 13 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The festival is free and features a wide array of original art, and live music in a quaint town center setting alongside Sam Marco’s well-know lions fountain. What’s more – attendees can sign up for a free art giveaway.

You’ve done dinner and a movie. How about dinner and a show? It’s been a while, right?

The Color Purple – the Alice Walker novel Steven Speilberg made into an award-winning film – is also a play being performed at The Alhambra Theatre, which recently underwent renovations.

Tickets are $38 to $55 for dinner and a play at various times on Friday, April 11, through Sunday, April 27. Go see the inspiring story of Celie, a downtrodden young women who over 30 years discovers how beautiful she really is.